Why The Eradication of Both White Privilege and Racism Have To Be a Part of the Progressive/Liberal Agenda, Part II, OCCUPIED Edition

Sgt. Shamar Thomas/NYC, Occupy Wall Street confrontation with NYPD

I have been let down so many times as an activist, as a person of African Descent who came of age in the post Black Power heyday, as an LGBT and AIDS activist, as an extreme left wing liberal progressive who is also a person of African Descent and who has had to deal with left colorblindness [1] every step of the way.

I'm old enough to vividly remember the WTO in Seattle of 1999 and the over-the-top enthusiasm we all had then and the ultimate disappointment that followed. I was living in California when proposition 8 passed and in Oakland when Oscar Grant was murdered. I was living in Arizona when SB 1070 was passed. I've been pulled over for bogus reasons when driving while back by white police officers both male and female, especially female, so many times and in so many states I have completely lost count of the exact number of times at this juncture. And still I rise up. And still I resist. And Still I OCCUPY!

I can remember a time in my life, not so long ago, when I literally woke up almost every single day absolutely shocked that while I lay sleeping, people in later time zones in America had not risen up in mouth foaming disgust and taken to the streets by the millions, in massive protests about all the many wrong headed things that were taking place in this capitalist/ rich get richer/poop get poorer American dialectic. Now, we are more than a month into The Occupied Movement and maybe, just maybe, this is it. Do I dare get my hopes up once more? Time of course will tell. I have a long activism history. At this point in my activism career I am likely considered somewhat old guard. I am not in the powerful Rep. John Lewis/Joan Baez/John Lennon generation. My birth date places me right after that illustrious time that brought us so many luminaries in activism, many of whom are still with us and still active, still teaching, still witnessing and bearing witness. I am in the famous/infamous "baby boomer" generation. We too have made significant contributions to activism in America.

Then there is the black people/people of color "problem" that always seems to rear its ugly head in activist circles. Like in almost every other reflection of political life in America, activism here is largely influenced by white people. Because of this, I always hold my breath whenever a new progressive movement pops up. That's because there are almost always sensitivity/visibility/participation issues that invariably enters the scene and that directly impacts the people of color in these movements. These lapses almost always have the effect of delegitimizing us in some significant way or another. Worse still is when they end up blaming us, in some race based finger pointing, for some real or imagined failure the movement experiences. It came up in a huge way in the second wave feminist movement. It was so strong in that movement that African Descended and people of color feminists felt a need to come up with their own separate name for their own separate feminist movement. It came up in a big way again in the aftermath of the fight against proposition 8 in California in 2008.

So how is The Occupy Movement scoring so far on this front?

Well, it's already been pointed out by some of the more astute people out there (here) that the name of the movement itself, right out of the gate, is problematic for large segments of the Native American/American Indian/Indigenous activist communities. To a lesser extent it is also problematic for various members of the black, Central American and South American activists here in America. I agree with Tim Wise when he says white activists need to be mindful of such things when"trying to build a cross racial movement for social and economic justice." So naming the movement The Occupied Movement in a country that was stolen from its original inhabitants and then occupied and where shortly after this occupation, black people from Africa were imported to the newly occupied "nation" in order to provide free labor for the occupiers, is indeed problematic. Further, this is a country where many people and several states currently officially demonize Central American and South America people who immigrate to this country without the proper papers; many of whom had ancestors who were the original inhabitants of this land. Some have ancestors who originally stole the land. America is a complex mix of realities and ironies if its anything.

I however, am far from giving up on the movement for this faux paus and insensitivity. More are likely to follow. I am training my very highly developed eyesight and consciousness on The Occupied Movement looking for all hints, grand and small, of other insensitivities as well as other visibility and participation issues where blacks and other people of color are concerned. So far, there seem to be some encouraging signs (here, here and here). So I am encouraged. I am on high alert. And...I am encouraged.

On-site link:

http://ravenanda.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-moyo-aflame-2011-why.html

References
1.  Olson, Joel (October 20, 2011). Whiteness and the 99%. Bring the Ruckus